The Friend Zone
by Nerdyesque
Summary: AU Logan and Veronica are best friends; could they be more? Takes place in their first year of college.
1. And So It Begins

**A/N: This is a scene that occurred to me as I was writing _Scourging Fire, Blazing Soul_. I even thought about using it in a sequel, but realized I needed to finish the high school years before even contemplating writing about the college years. I couldn't bear to erase it, so I decided to publish it in its raw form**. **Enjoy. I originally published it under "Flashes in a Pan," but decided to finish it, so separated it.  
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><p>Logan kept his eyes roving through the party, making sure he was at the perfect spot to see when she walked in the door. It was difficult to keep track of her in a crowd because of her tininess, but it was the least he could do for his best friend.<p>

"…love it! Don't you agree?"

"You know it," he responded absently to his girlfriend.

"Have you even been listening to me, Logan?"

"No."

"Wow, thanks a lot."

He swung his gaze to the tall blonde at his side and gave her his patented sheepish grin combined with a ducked head. Veronica always said it worked wonders on the female libido and as he saw the irritation melt from Parker's eyes, he realized she was right as usual.

"I'm sorry Sugarpuss, just waiting for Ronnie and Mac. They said they'd be here about ten." Logan checked his watch with a frown. "It's almost eleven."

"I'm so excited to finally meet them after hearing so much about them."

"Just don't let them sucker you into a video game tournament. Dick still hasn't lived down the humiliation of losing."

"Where is Dick tonight?"

"His mom's in town and she's took Dick, Cass, and Ryan out to dinner."

"Is Cass finally going to come out and tell her Ryan's his boyfriend?"

"Ronnie's been pushing him to tell his mom, but you know how stubborn Cass is."

"Actually I don't," his girlfriend muttered under her breath loathe to bring up the fact _yet again _that she hadn't met any of his closest friends except Dick, which didn't really count since he'd run into them while they were out on a date one night, and only good manners had forced Logan to introduce them.

True they'd only been dating about three months, but he'd already met her circle, and each time she came back to the sorority house, the girls asked if she'd met his friends. The glances the girls exchanged merely exacerbated the uneasiness she felt too; she'd always heard a girl wasn't really a girlfriend unless she knew his "bros." True it was part of a comedy sketch she'd seen on television, but it struck a chord in her insecure heart.

"Ronnie! Mac! Over here!"

Parker adjusted her shirt and smoothed any flyaways before turning to greet the two. To her gaping dismay, "Ronnie" turned out to be a short hot Tinkerbell type, and "Mac" a sloe-eyed brunet with magenta streaks.

"So sorry we're late, Logan. The pixie here just had to have one more slice before we left."

"Hey! I didn't get to eat much earlier so I was hungry."

"Uh huh. When aren't you?" Logan teased with a smirk. He grabbed Ronnie by the waist and towed her closer. "Parker this is my best friend Veronica Mars and the weird emo girl is Cindy MacKenzie."

"Mac will do. No one but no one calls me Cindy."

Ronnie nodded from Logan's loose embrace. "She's legendary down at the Sheriff's office for that."

"Oh please, like you don't have your own infamous exploits?"

"Whatevs. Parker, nice to finally meet you! Logan has told me so much about you." Ronnie stepped forward and enthusiastically shook his stunned girlfriend's hand. Their whizzing conversation had flown over her head, and she was still in shock at the extreme prettiness of Logan's "best friend."

"Uh…yah…hi."

"So is this party banging or what? What a girl gotta do to get a drink around here?" Ronnie threw her hands over head and did a cute butt swivel, the miniskirt she wore accentuating her toned thighs.

"You let her have sugar, Mac."

"You try and keep her away from the dessert, Echolls. They had _chocolate_," she confessed with a deep dark voice, as if imparting state's secrets.

"Jesus, you might as well let her mainline sugar. Fan-fuckin-tastic. You're on bitch patrol when she comes down off her high."

"You do realize I'm standing right here and can hear you?" Ronnie stood with her hands on her hips and a playful scowl on her face.

Logan whipped his arm away and ducked behind Parker, using her as a human shield. "Not the hanger, Mommy. Not the hanger."

"This is what I get for letting him watch _Mommy Dearest_."

"You're the one who wanted to watch the classics."

"Only 'cause I was keeping your ass company; you're worse than a five-year-old when you're sick. And I couldn't bear to watch _Evil Dead _again."

"Baby, when were you sick? I could've come over and kept you company," Parker interjected, determined to be a contributing member in this conversation.

Logan shrugged. "Oh, it was when you were in Aspen with your folks during Spring Break."

"I thought you said you were going surfing with the _boys_."

"Eh, our plans fell through, and then Ronnie came back into town, so I figured it I might as well get some Martian time."

"Wasn't funny in high school, and still not funny now, Dobie."

"I'm totally a pit bull. Right Mac?"

Mac turned from watching the other party-goers, used to the banter between her two friends. She saw neither Veronica or Logan seemed to notice Parker getting more and more agitated. She was being excluded and clearly didn't like it.

"If pit bulls were kinda girly, sure."

"Well, I think you're too pretty to be a pittie, baby. You're more like a German Shepherd."

"Yah, Logan, you're totally a Shepherd," Ronnie snarked, her lips quivering with repressed humor. Sensing movement at her side, she grinned up at the tall lanky boy emerging from the crowd. "Dante, you made it!"

"Wouldn't miss it," he winked, bending down to press a quick kiss on Mac's cheek. "Hey Logan."

The other boy threw out a careless wave. "Dante, this is Parker. Parker, Mac's flava of the month."

"Do I get to be Rocky Road at least?"

"Nah, Logan's got that cornered. You're more Chunky Monkey."

"I'm not fat!"

"You're fat where it counts," Mac joked, enjoying the light blush dusting his high cheekbones.

Veronica and Logan laughed uproariously while Parker just looked confused. Mac felt a little bad for her, since she didn't get their inside jokes, but knew there was no hope for it. She gave the lithe blond another three months at most before she was out the door; Logan's other women never lasted longer than six because they couldn't stand the competition.

Even now, Logan had his arm casually slung around Veronica's shoulders while his girlfriend stood next to them fuming. He never noticed any other girls, even the ones he brought, when he was near his _best friend_.

Mac snorted quietly at the misnomer.

_Love of his life_ would be a better title, but she knew her two friends were willfully blind to the deeper connection between them because they were terrified of losing each other. Both were horrible in relationships, Veronica burning through boys almost as fast as Logan through girls, but mostly because the others were substitutes for what they wanted most. They'd been best friends for so long, they were stuck in the friend zone and didn't have enough courage to find a way out.

"Wanna dance Logan?" Parker's mouth was pursed in a seductive pout, her chest subtly thrust forward. Mac wanted to tell her to stop trying so hard, but she'd given up warning the girls because they never believed her; at least until he broke the fifth date in a row because Ronnie wanted to hang out, or because she needed his help, or just because she existed.

"Nah, but you go ahead," he urged, his head turned towards the petite blond tucked into his side. "I haven't seen Ronnie in a while and we should catch up."

Mac pressed her face into her boyfriend's chest so no one could see her rolling her eyes in exasperation. She knew for a fact Logan had flown up to Palo Alto three weekends ago to visit Veronica at Stanford because she couldn't afford to come down to Neptune; if that wasn't enough, she also knew they texted or talked nearly every day, so what they could possibly need to "catch up" on was a mystery.

Sighing, knowing she needed to be the one, Mac tapped Dante and signaled with her eyes. He understood, a freaky thing in itself, and announced he was getting a drink before melting back into the crowd. Neither Veronica or Logan noticed, caught in their insular bubble, so Mac grabbed Parker's hand and dragged her to the dance floor to have _the talk_.

Just another casualty of the Friend Zone.


	2. All's Fair in Love and Mario Kart

**A/N: This is the second half of "The Friend Zone."**

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><p>Parker tentatively knocked on Logan's front door, hoping she'd read his invitation right and was dressed appropriately: she wore a tight mid-thigh length jean skirt paired with a flirty flowing checkered peasant top and wedge heels that showed off her long tanned legs. It'd been a few days since the Phi Sig party when he'd taken her home and left her at the door with a quick peck on the cheek and a vague "call you later."<p>

Of course, she should never have doubted him, or listened to his Mac friend, because a huge bouquet of red roses in a crystal cut vase arrived at the door two days later with a small black envelope with an invite to his "beach-slamming, beer-swilling partay" to christen the new house he bought. Parker was a little taken aback by the thought of him having enough money to buy his own house at nineteen, but comforted herself with images of them decorating the place.

She probably should be mad at how casual he was acting, but honestly she was just relieved to get a an invite to his shindig. It was the first time Logan had included her in something where she'd get to meet everyone and she felt confident about their future.

Naturally it was Veronica who opened the door with a wide smile.

"You made it! Welcome our humble abode."

_Our?_ Parker silently mouthed, even as she stepped over the threshold into the house and followed the smaller blonde down the long entry way to the living room. She was dressed in ragged jean shorts and a faded gray t-shirt, long hair pulled into a messy bun, which made Parker suddenly feel better about her own outfit.

Logan sat on the couch, game controller in hand, concentrating hard on the large screen television. Mac sat next to him with much the same expression.

"Oh god, give it up Echolls. She's totally got you whipped!" Veronica crowed. "Your woman is here, so might as well concede the victory."

"Whatever! I will defeat Mac."

"As if, dude. She's beaten you twice already. Just give up already." Dick lazed against the doorframe across from the couch, a beer dangling from one hand. "Concede so you can get your drink on and see your woman."

A second later tinny music and cheers erupted from the screen and Logan threw his controller down in defeat while Mac merely turned her head and said "Pay up, Echolls."

"Mackie you know I'm good for it." A wheedling tone and puppy-dog eyes made no dint in the determined expression of his opponent.

"Ronica…"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it."

Parker watched as Veronica sat on _her _ boyfriend's lap and pushed him back against the sofa.

"I'm holding him down; go for it!"

Both girls started tickling his ribs and he sputtered with laughter as he tried to wrestle free. Parker noticed he took great care not to knock Veronica from her perch.

"Fine! Fine! I bow down to you, Cindy Mackenzie, as ruler of the known world and my personal hero. I will never doubt your prowess as a warrior of the Mario Kart or degenerate your skills ever again on pain of getting a wet-willy as punishment."

Veronica hopped off him with a huge smile and Mac cracked at last, her laughter spilling forth in a bright flood of happy emotions.

"Anndddd….?"

"I will buy you all the food Dick can consume."

Mac exchanged glances with the tiny blond, then crossed her arms and arched a brow.

"Fine, fine. I will get you a fucking buffet so you two pigs can eat to your heart's content."

He ignored the girls when they high-fived each other and taunted him with pig noises.

"Never get between these girls and their food, dude. I can't believe you thought you'd get away with it."

"I thought I'd win."

"Dude."

"Yeah, yeah. Shutup."

Parker finally had enough, not well-versed in Neptune speak to follow their conversation. "Hi Logan."

He looked up, brown eyes wide with surprise. "Parker! When'd you get here?"

Both Veronica and Dick rolled their eyes as he jumped up from the couch and swooped in to give his fuming girlfriend a smacking kiss on her pursed lips. She pressed closer, hoping to turn the peck into something deeper, but he nimbly side-stepped her embrace. Parker felt a little foolish standing there with pursed lips, but pretended to fix her lipstick instead. Her embarrassment melted when he took her hand and drew her to sit next to him.

"Hi Sugarplum, sorry about that. I was so sure I'd beat Mac this time I didn't notice your arrival."

"I've missed you. Where have you been?"

"Yeah, sorry about that. It's been hectic few days with packing and moving everything in here."

"Oh don't even try that, Echolls. He didn't do a god damn thing; he just hired movers to pack his shit up and they unboxed everything."

"Please, Ronnie. You're just pissed you're gonna have to pack your own stuff and haul it down for the summer in that crackerjack prize you call a car."

"Why do you always have to insult Clive, Logan? Just because we can't all drive monstrosities like yours doesn't make him less than a manly car."

"First off, the Banana Boat is _not a _monstrosity, and secondly...Clive? Manly? Really? You drive a black and red VW Bug."

"Mac, help me out here."

"Um...he's kinda got a point, 'Ronica. Clive Owen, manly and hot. Clive the car...well...not so much."

"Dagger to the heart, bestie. Dagger. To. The. Heart."

"It's okay, I'm sure Logan's health insurance is good enough to cover the surgery to extract it."

"Hey, I thought I was your best friend!" Logan's pout was adorable, but Parker was too busy glaring at Veronica to notice it.

"You're my best guy friend. She's my best girlfriend."

"Now that's hot. Can I watch?"

Both Mac and Veronica groaned before flipping him off.

Parker was tired of being left out, so she interjected in the small pocket of silence. "So, what's going on?" She glanced around the sparsely decorated room, noticing that other than the TV, the entertainment center, and the long L-shaped couch, there wasn't any other furniture. "Is this the grand bash?"

"Dude, like we'd break in the new pad with only us? Please, we have 09er reps..." Dick's voice trailed off at Mac's and Veronica's pointed looks. "Fine. We have our partay reps to consider and everyone will meet us at the beach in an hour." He waved a hand at the living room. "Sides, Ronnie would go all _Misery_ on someone if they bust up this house."

Mac, Dick, and Logan shuddered in unison while Veronica made a face at the trio. "Ignore them Parker, and don't believe a word they say."

"Is it just me or does she say that alot? Always believe what we say, especially when it comes to 'Ronica," Mac kindly advised Parker, willing the girl to remember her words from the other night. The fact the girl was here meant she hadn't taken the warning seriously, but Mac was hoping. Besides, she had to win that stupid bet.

Everyone ignored her, and she sighed while mentally throwing her hands up in the air. She tried, she really did.

"Oh please, what 'bout the party at the old place when Enbom and Luke crashed with a bunch of their jock buddies, and they broke that lamp? There was blood, stitches, and crying involved."

Veronica shrugged self-consciously. "Is it my fault Luke can't take a baseball bat to the knees without wingeing like a little girl?"

"Little girl? Little girl? I would've screamed too had the Marsinator gone after me with murder in her eyes."

"Shut it Richard or I'll shut it for you."

"Promise?" Dick's eyebrows waggled lasciviously, laughter sputtering from him at the identical looks of exasperation on Logan and Ronnie's faces. Parker, on the other hand, looked mystified as she attempted to keep track of the conversation, and he genuinely felt sorry for her, but also knew it was his job to break things off gently so she could leave tonight with her dignity intact.

He noticed Logan had edged away from his girlfriend and was slowly migrating to the other side of the couch where his "best friend" sat; looking over at Mac, he discreetly held up two fingers, snickering when she shook her head and flashed her palm. They both knew he won both bets, but he graciously allowed her to try to even the odds by going best out of five.

"How long have you guys known each other?" Parker was determined to keep control of the conversation.

"Dick, Beav, and I have known each other since elementary school. I met Ronnie in middle school and Mac in high school."

"I actually went to elementary school with Dick, Beav, and Logan, sat behind them in most classes, but no one remembers that, and I was there when they all met in middle school. They only remember me in high school because of Veronica."

"Beav?"

Logan grinned at the annoyed Mac before responding to Parker. "Sorry, Beav is Cass. You'll finally get to meet him and Ryan tonight."

"Why do you call him Beav?"

Veronica snorted. "Because of juvenile boy humor. Beav is short for Beaver. Dick and Beaver."

"That's cute." She glanced at her boyfriend and saw him shaking his head. "That's not cute?"

"Well, we could n't call him Pussy or Cunt and Dick refused to answer to Cock, so we stuck with the classics."

"Oh," Parker blushed at Logan's words and ducked her head, thereby missing the wide-eyed glances exchanged between Mac, Veronica, and Dick.

None of them could believe the level of naivety displayed by the blond, and Dick was worried for the first time. Could Logan have stumbled on the Holy Grail of College Girls by dating a virgin? If so, if Logan had popped her cherry, this might throw a kink into the break-up plan; Logan wasn't a dog, despite the whittled down bedpost, and he wouldn't ding-dong-ditch a vulnerable girl.

Panic flowed through Dick as he remembered the other half of his scheme and how that too might backfire if Phase One didn't go off as planned. Goosebumps flowered on his skin as he thought of what _Veronica_ might do to him if this didn't work out. He wasn't kidding when he said he would be scared of her; hell he _was_ scared of her most of the time, and they were friends!

"So, yeah, you should probably check out the place . Logan and Veronica can tour guide you through their house while Mac and me makes sure everything is at the beach."

"We will?"

Dick glared at Mac, silently wishing he could speak mind to mind. "Yeah, we will."

"What do you mean _their _house?"

Parker's tone was two degrees shy of frigid and stopped everyone. Logan was alternating between scratching and rubbing Veronica's back the way she liked, while Dick and Mac were nearly to the door of the kitchen.

"Ronnie lives here," Logan easily explained, not understanding the look on his girlfriend's face. "Well, she will once the semester ends and she comes back from Stanford."

"You didn't think that was important enough to let your girlfriend know you were living with another woman?"

"Uh, you just got here and honestly what do you care? You've known from the beginning Ronnie is my best friend so it's not like we're exactly shacking up." He frowned at Parker. "I told you I was gonna have a roommate."

"I thought you were going to live with Dick or Cass, not ..." she waved a hand in Veronica's general direction, too choked with anger and jealousy to finish her thought aloud.

"What? Not a what?"

Dick and Mac internally groaned at Logan's dangerously quiet tone. He was fiercely protective of Veronica and wouldn't stand for anyone maligning her to his face; they both wanted Parker gone, but this wasn't the way they would've chosen. It could get really ugly really fast.

"A girl, okay. A really hot girl who you spend more time touching than your own girlfriend! Since she's been here, you've completely ignored me."

"Great going, Dick," Mac whispered. "You just had to drop that bomb."

"Dude, I wasn't thinking."

"Obviously! This is why you should've left the planning up to me."

"Oh, like you did so good. She's here even though you gave her 'the talk,'" his voice went high-pitched in a horrible impression of a girl's voice. "Guess you suck too."

"That's not true," Logan defended, deaf to his friends' covert conversation. "I just haven't seen Ronnie in a while and I see you every day."

Veronica stood, her face troubled. She didn't want to cause problems between them because she knew from her conversations with Logan how much he liked this one (though other than a nice rack and long legs she didn't really see the attraction). Their last conversation had revolved around his seeming inability to maintain a stable relationship; other than her and Mac, he never seemed to keep a woman in his life for very long.

"Parker, look. Logan and I are really tight because we've been through some shit together." She ignored the muttered "that's a fucking understatement" from the peanut gallery behind her, focusing her formidable attention on the visibly fuming blond. "I don't have any place to live at the end of the semester, and Logan kindly offered a place to stay. I'm dating a guy, so trust me when I say, you have nothing to fear from me in that department."

"Exactly...wait, what?" Logan's head flipped to Veronica. "You're dating someone?"

"Yeah, Jameson. You remember him, the guy we met up with at the bar when you visited me."

"The bartender? You're dating the fucking bartender?"

"Well, I don't have my fake I.D. any more, so sleeping with the barkeep gets me into bars and all the free booze I can drink." Her cheeky smile dissipated at Logan's ferocious frown. "Chill, Dobie. I'm kidding."

Logan let out a relieved breath. "I'm glad. He was a real douchebag."

"Uh, I was kidding about the free booze part. I _am_ dating him."

"Why the fuck didn't you tell me?"

Veronica rolled her eyes and planted her hands on her hips. "Now isn't the time to talk about it."

"It is the time. You know we don't hold secrets."

"I didn't keep him a secret. Cheese and rice, calm the fuck down. I was gonna tell you about him this weekend. We _just_ started dating. We've only gone on a few dates so far. He's not going to tattoo my name on his arm any time soon."

"I need to fuck him up?"

"I wore my steel-toed combat boots and carried my mace,_ Dad_. He didn't even get to see the stars."

Logan stepped into Veronica's personal space, his larger body automatically curling around her much smaller one. "He better not _ever_ see them."

"Stars?' Dick mouthed in question. Mac pantomimed a bed with a two figures lying down on it and pointed upward. He looked up in confusion for a moment before he remembered Veronica's obsession with stars and how she stuck them on the ceilings of every place she stayed. If Jamison had seen the stars..._ooooh boy. _

"_Logan!"_

Parker's shout shook Logan from his Veronica haze. "What?"

"God, Mac was right. I don't know why I didn't listen to her. This -" she motioned at the space between them "isn't going to work. You're obviously caught up in something. But let me say this, if my best guy friend was dating someone, I sure as hell wouldn't act jealous and possessive, unless I wanted it to be me."

Her incredulous laugh was tinged with tears and she shook her head. "I'll let myself out." Once outside, she counted to ten, fervently praying Logan would follow, but he didn't appear. Parker left while valiantly ignoring the wetness slipping down her cheeks.

Silence reigned in the living room for a full five minutes as every member tried to process the scene. Dick and Mac were jubilant because it made things so much simpler for them. Unlike their more clueless counterparts, they knew this summer was going to be a game changer because for once in all their misbegotten lives, no one was dead, there wasn't a police investigation, jail time wasn't a forgone conclusion, and all other distractions during high school weren't around. With Veronica living with Logan again, and him not dating anyone, there was no reason why they wouldn't _finally_ hook up and become a couple.

Of course there was the little matter of Jameson, or whatever his real name was. Mac was certain Dick would know since he sent the party invite to the guy as well as Parker. She found it cute that Veronica and Logan still used their nickname game, and more proof they belonged together. This guy wouldn't stand a chance if he really did make the trip down here because Logan _was_ extremely protective and possessive over his Ronnie and would set the guy straight over who the most important man in her life was.

Dick glanced at the impending happy couple and grinned with delight. He never knew what Logan saw in Parker in the first place: other than a great rack and long legs, there wasn't much to recommend her, unless it'd been the virgin thing. He didn't think Logan had checked a v-card before, so he could understand wanting to scratch that off his Bucket List. How Ronnie and Logan couldn't see their perfect compatibility was beyond his readily admitted limited comprehension.

Logan, on the other hand, didn't have the clarity of mind that Mac and Dick had, and wondered miserably what the fuck was wrong with him that his girlfriends all left him. He had enjoyed spending time with Parker because she was fun, bubbly, and completely ignorant of who he was because she'd moved here from another state. Sure, he wasn't that passionate about her, and had respected her boundaries by not trying to sleep with her, but he'd felt this time could be different. Even Ronnie hadn't said a word about her other than "She's tall."

Veronica was trying to figure out what Parker meant by her Mac comment. When had the two of them ..._ the frat party Dick and Logan had dragged them to a few days ago_. Her head came up and she nailed her friend with a potent cat-soul glare and a subtle head nod. Mac shrugged good-naturedly and whispered to Dick, "You're up," before following her down the hall.

"Want a beer dude?"

"Yeah."

Logan popped the lid off and shot it at a mark on the wall from his seat on the couch. "What the fuck just happened? Why did she freak out about Ronnie and me?"

"Logan, c'mon. Ronnie is fuckin' hot despite her tiny size. What girlfriend wants her man's best friend to look like that? Hell, if I didn't know her, I'd try to do her."

Dick held up his hands defensively against the nuclear hot glare Logan shot at him. "Dude, I _do_ know better and would never try it. I prefer my nut sack where it is. Sides,'if she didn't kill me, you would."

"If she really wanted you, I wouldn't stand in the way."

"Bullshit! Enbom wanted her so bad it was embarrassing and you rearranged his face for just trying to ask her out."

"He was an idiot."

"He was your friend."

"_Was_ being the key word. Other than you, Cass, Ronnie, and Mac, I don't have friends. I have acquaintances."

"What about Casey?"

"Eh, he's more Ronnie's than mine. He tolerates me for her sake."

"Well, do you blame him?"

"Not really."

Both boys took a long pull of their beers. Dick wondered how to broach the dating Ronnie thing, while Logan pondered what the girls were talking about. He hadn't missed the significant look Ronnie had shot Mac; what the fuck was going on? What happened to his nice "end of the semester, got a new house" blowout bash with his favorite people and the rest of the hangers on? Which reminded him...

"How did Parker find out about the party? I forgot to invite her."

"Dude, major boyfriend foul there. How could you forget to invite your girlfriend?"

Logan shrugged dispiritedly. When Veronica was around, he tended to close out most things. He'd missed her so much, much more than he thought he would when she first told him she was going to Stanford. He knew why she wanted to get the fuck out of Neptune, but their friendship had become an important cornerstone of his life, and he hated being too far away to protect and watch over her. He knew intellectually that she could take care of herself, had for a long time before they met, but it didn't change how he felt.

"It wasn't that big of a deal, really."

"Dude! My Frat brothers know, and most of her Sorority sisters will probably tag along. That's just cold." Dick hid his grin behind the lip of the bottle as he watched his friend.

"Doesn't matter now, I guess."

"So, uh, what're your plans now that you're single? I know a few girls who wouldn't mind an Echolls Ride."

"Jesus, Dick, I just got dumped by my girlfriend. Mind giving me a few hours to mourn?"

"Mourn what? You weren't tapping that ass and your best buds are here. It's time for a party!"

"How do you know we weren't sleeping together?"

Dick drew a discreet breath as he _hadn't _been sure and was fucking relieved. Logan wouldn't feel guilty over this one then.

"Dude, so obvious! You weren't all macho on her at the Phi Sig party. Bunch of guys were hitting on her hardcore and you didn't even notice. When you sleep with a chick, you make sure to mark your boundaries."

"You make me sound like a dog."

"An ugly scarred junkyard dog."

"Thank...you?"

"No prob, dude. No prob at all."

Meanwhile, Veronica had cornered Mac in her soon-to-be bedroom with an intent look on her face.

"What the hell was that?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't even try it Cynthia Louise Mackenzie." Veronica ignored the wince at the use of the full name. "What the hell did you say to Parker the other night?"

"Nothing much. Just told her that Logan would be preoccupied with you in town and things would get back to normal when you went back to Palo Alto," she lied with ease.

Of course, that wasn't quite how it went down:

_Mac grabbed Parker's hand and drew her to the dance floor, glad the music wasn't ear-shattering, so as long as they danced close enough she wouldn't have to shout to be heard. They moved to the fast beat as she tried to figure out how to gently start the conversation._

"_So Mac, can I call you Mac?, how long have -"_

_Mac held up a hand, glad the other girl had spoken first._

"_Stop, that's not why I'm here..I want to give you a warning I hope you're smart enough to take."_

_The strobe lights over the dance floor were flashing, so Parker's face was a collage of differing colors and confusion. "Huh?"_

"_How long have you two been dating?"_

"_Three months."_

"_How long have you known about Ronnie?"_

"_About a month. He told me to answer his phone and it was her."_

"_You didn't throw a fit?"_

"_Well...at first, but he told me it was just his best friend who was up at Stanford. Even I can't be jealous of someone who's four hundred miles away."_

"_You should be."_

"_Excuse me?" Parker stopped, ignoring the couple behind them complaining at her abrupt motion, brow furrowed into a frown. Mac stopped too and stepped as close as she dared so the blond wouldn't miss a word._

"_Look, you're probably a nice girl who was raised in a nice normal home with loving parents. Logan isn't cut out to date your kind of girl. He's more into damaged, fucked up, hardass bitches who uses fire as a threat to get their way. You're just an amusement until what he really needs comes back to him."_

_She took Parker's chin and gently moved it so she could see where Logan and Veronica stood. They stood apart now just chatting, but the energy arcing between them was so obvious to be almost visible to the naked eye._

"_He's hers and she's his. Always has been, always will be. Do yourself a favor and get out while you still can." _

_Don't be among the countless other cannon fodder used in the silent war they wage against themselves, she wanted to say but didn't. There was no way this girl, in this moment, could possibly understand these two. Mac knew them, was there with them through the worst of it, and still didn't feel she truly understood them either. It was enough to love them and be their friend._

"Why do I not believe you? You must've said _something_ to make her react as she did."

Mac looked at her friend with a sincere smile. "You're just too fucking suspicious, Veronica Mars."

"Uh huh." Then she did something that shocked even Mac.

Veronica winked and said, "Thanks."


	3. Bonfire Brood

**A/N: I realized since this is now a standalone story, I would have to sprinkle some memories through the chapter in order to explain some of their previous friendship and stubborn blindness to their own feelings. I'm not sure if it worked as well as I hoped - after all I'm skipping between present and past - but at least I tried! Enjoy.**

* * *

><p>The party was in full swing on the beach, three massive bonfires lit so everyone could party to their heart's content as safely as possible when sand, water, and underage drinking was involved.<p>

Logan sat in the shadows near the waterline, a bottle loosely dangling from one hand, as he tried to analyze his own romantic failures. This endeavor was hampered by his moderately intoxicated state and lack of focus; when Dick went to find the girls and start the party, Logan had grabbed the bottle of Ta-kill-ya in the kitchen and wandered out to find a private spot, ignoring the cries of his friends as they searched for him,

He honestly thought Veronica would appear, as she always seemed to know where to find him, but the sun sank below the horizon and people filled the empty spaces, and no one bothered him. This caused an unsettled feeling in the pit of his stomach because he was secretly terrified of going somewhere she couldn't follow. It was one reason he stayed in Neptune despite the offers of different schools across the country - to nearly everyone's shock, he'd graduated in the middle of his class and had high enough SAT scores he had the pick of decent colleges. Unfortunately, aside from Hearst, none of them were in California.

California was where Stanford was located, the only place Veronica ever dreamed of going since she was a little girl. He once asked her why it was so important for her to go there, and she'd put him off with a lame answer he knew didn't really answer his question. It was the first time he could ever remember her not telling him the truth, and it worried him even more than pissing him off. He was sure that despite their spit-palm promises and pinky swears, their friendship would falter in direct proportion to the distance between them.

Time altered all things, and it wasn't like they had much keeping them together beyond a shared history which was surely overshadowed by the violence and mayhem of the last two years of high school. He spent the week after graduation in a drunken haze, faceless girls sliding across his sheets, their cries drowning out the ringing of his phone. It wasn't until Veronica tracked him down in a seedy hotel in Tijuana, that he realized just how far she was willing to go, merely to make sure he was okay. He regretted every doubting she wouldn't come for him.

"You finished brooding yet?"

Logan grinned into the darkness, the unreasoning panic beneath his breastbone fading away. She'd found him. "I'm "it" now I guess."

"You can never find me when I really try to hide," she chided gently as she knelt beside him.

"I'll always come find you." It was both a promise and a threat.

"I know." Her hand whispered across his brow, brushing the slightly sticky strands away from his forehead. "I'm sorry about Parker, I know how much you liked her."

His laughter was tinged with bitterness. "Parker is the dry version of alcohol: not good for me, a friggin' bad habit, and something to do to pass the time." He felt her body subtly flinch and rapidly thought over his words. "Not _do_ do. We never had sex."

"Logan Echolls, the P-Hound of Neptune High, didn't score with a chick? You dated her for three months. Why didn't you tap that?"

"Shut it, you know I hate when you try to talk guy." Logan shrugged. "She wasn't ready and I didn't push it. I didn't want the responsibility of breaking her in. She was a nice girl. What do I know about nice girls?"

"Uh...what about Mac and me? We're nice."

"As nice as the Big Bad Wolf disguised in Grandma's pjs."

"I resemble that remark!"

Logan couldn't see her grin in the dark, but he knew every facial expression she had so he could imagine it well; her nose was scrunched up and her lips curved, showing a glint of her slightly crooked front tooth he knew she hated, but he loved because her imperfections made her hotter than the most perfect plastic-surgeon approved dime-a-dozen So-Cal valley girl.

At least in his totally unbiased opinion.

_And at least one other dude,_ he thought darkly, remembering her earlier confession. It still stung she hadn't let him know she was dating Jameson, or whatever his actual name was, when he was visiting her at Stanford. _How many things does she keep from me? _

Veronica settled next to him, the warmth of her body drawing him from his rapidly darkening thoughts, and his arm automatically curled around her shoulders to tuck her into his side.

"So, why are you hiding out here instead of hanging out with sixty of your nearest and dearest friends to celebrate the totally awesome radical new slammin' beach house?"

"Um, that's precisely why I'm hiding out. Who the hell invited that many people?"

"Well, you left the guest list up to Dick. Really? Are you mental?"

Logan snickered before admitting sheepishly, "I only wanted it to be just us, Dick, Mac and Dante, Cass and Ryan, but you know Dick."

Both snickered a little over his unintentional pun. The silence that fell between them was natural and easy, both listening to the distant murmur of party-goers mixing with the restless crash of the ocean onto the sand. Logan wished he had the ability to capture moments like these and save them in a glass jar like the fireflies he used to catch during the few happy times of his childhood. He didn't often feel contentment, so he learned to hoard them as zealously as Midas ever did his gold.

"Why didn't we ever date in high school?"

Logan choked as he forgot how to speak or breathe properly for a moment. He knew Veronica as much as a one person could without actually living in the other's shoes, but her quiet question came out of left field.

"What brought this up?"

"We've been friends for six years now and not once have we ever crossed that line. Mac asked me...well, it doens't matter what she asked me...but it made me think."

"We never did anything because your sister would have skinned me and hung me up by my balls."

His voice caught and he tensed as he accidentally stumbled upon one of the many pitfalls in their friendship. His breath eased out when she responded, her voice shaded by sadness, not the awful tearing madness from _that year_.

"Evie loved you!"

"No, she tolerated me because I was best friends with her little sister and you were, _are_, a holy terror when you don't get your own way."

"Hmnph. So you're saying you never tried anything with me because you were scared of a _girl_."

He shrugged again, his wrists twisting uselessly as he automatically tried to hide his hands in nonexistent sleeves. Countless girlfriends had complained about his close attachment to Ronnie, even going as far to accuse him of using them as replacements. How could they be replacements for something he never had, nor even thought of having?

Well, that wasn't _completely_ true.

On their shared thirteenth birthday he'd wanted to kiss her so badly during the stupid Seven Minutes of Heaven game, be the first boy to ever touch her sweet lips, but she'd dragged Cassidy Casablancas into the closet instead. The time they spend hidden in the darkness were among the longest minutes of his life; even though he loved Cass like the little brother he never had, a small part of him hated that his friend had been Ronnie's first kiss.

Eventually the burgeoning boy-girl feelings for her had faded, especially later that summer when he'd met Selene Newberry at the Neptune Country Club. She'd been everything Ronnie wasn't: girly, frilly, and awestruck at meeting a famous actor's son. Her adoration had pumped up his fragile ego and he'd dared to kiss her one night by the pool. The scent of cherry-flavored lip gloss was strange to a nose so used to Ronnie's strawberry chapstick, but he'd ignored it and forged on, tentatively pressing his mouth against hers until she opened and he slipped his tongue in.

Dick had seen the whole thing and blabbed it to Ronnie the next day before Logan could tell him not to. Ronnie had looked weird for a moment before laughing it off and asking him if he now had a girlfriend. He hadn't thought that far ahead, but was somewhat hurt she wasn't upset about him kissing another girl, so he said "yes."

Realizing the silence had stretched a little too far, Logan tried to deflect the conversation back to her. "It's not like you wanted to date me in high school. I mean, between befriending Wallace, and dating Dennis, Brian, Matt, and not to mention the Enbom disaster, when was there time to fit in little ole me?"

"Yeah, you're right. There was never any time for you," Veronica dryly retorted, "I mean, we weren't called the Siamese Twins by our classmates or anything."

"No one called us that."

"Okay, you're right, no one actually said it out loud, but many thought it."

"Not my fault you attached yourself to my hip."

"Pu-leese! You're the one who bribed the Front Office Aide to make sure we had most of the same classes."

"Only because I knew you'd let me cheat off you."

"Sure, Mister-Eighteen hundred and eighty-SAT-Score, you needed to cheat."

"Obviously I did since you got a twenty-one hundred."

He laughed when he felt her polishing her knuckles on her chest. "Yeah, yeah, you're smarter than me, We all know that."

"I'm definitely smart enough to know you're avoiding the subject. Why didn't you ever ask me out? Did you ever think about it?"

Logan snuggled her back into his arms, curling his legs around her smaller body so her back was to his chest. "Before we went into high school, I sometimes thought about it, but you were the only girl I knew who played video games, and didn't want to go hang out at the malls all the time to go shopping. Why would I want to ruin such a beautiful friendship?"

"It was too depressing to go to malls and know I couldn't afford to eat there, much less shop."

"You know I would've bought anything you wanted."

"Yeah, 'cause I wanted to feel more like a charity case."

Her hair was ruffled by the strength of his sigh. It was the same old song and dance they did, her refusing to let him spoil her. What was the point of having money if not to spend it?

"Do you remember Selene Newberry?" Logan idly asked, fingers trailing down Veronica's arm.

"How could I not? I hated her."

"What? Why?"

Veronica drew away from him and nailed him with a look. The light was very weak, but he didn't need it to know which one she used; the burning of her contempt was liable to strip his skin to the bone.

"You kissed her and ignored me for her."

"No I didn't."

"Uh huh. For an entire month you were hanging out with her and doing whatever she wanted, and never had time for me."

"You were spending it with Cass."

"No. I was hanging out with Dick _and _Cass. What could I do? You three were my only friends and you never had time for me any more."

Logan winced at the truth of her plaintive words. He hadn't made time for her, and in fact, _had_ ignored her but it was because he was so mad because he thought she liked liked their friend's little brother.

"You kissed Cassidy."

"So?"

"Your first kiss was supposed to be mine."

The stark truth fell like a stone between them and nervous energy raced through him.

"I...you...huh."

"I do declare, the End of Days approaches. Miss Veronica Mars is speechless!"

Veronica felt breathless as his quiet words replayed over and over in her head. She'd always assumed he hadn't cared when she'd dragged Cassidy into the closet during the birthday party. Funnily enough, they hadn't spent the time swapping spit, but him listening to her tick off the reasons why she shouldn't want to kiss her best friend Logan Echolls.

By the time the seven minutes were up, he'd convinced her to just suck it up and go kiss him. Of course when they'd come out, Logan was gone and was busy for the next few days. When they finally hung out again, she'd lost her courage and found out it was too late anyway.

She still remembered the hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach when Dick gleefully told her about seeing Logan kissing some chick at the country club. There was a flash of embarrassment on Logan's face and Veronica thought there might still be a chance for them, but knew it was gone forever when he said Selene was his girlfriend.

"I wanted you to be my first kiss too," she confessed shyly. "Cass and I didn't make out during those seven minutes. We just talked."

"Oh."

"My first kiss was actually Dennis after Homecoming Freshman year."

There was a queer feeling as if the world was tilting for a moment. Logan suddenly wished he could reach back in time and punch his thirteen year old self for being so stupid. He could've been the kiss Veronica Mars measured all kisses against, but he'd been so butt-hurt over the situation, he hadn't even stopped to wonder why she'd taken Cassidy Casablancas, the kid _everyone_ knew would never score with chicks because he was too nerdy (of course it turned out because he was gay, but who thought that of a twelve year old?), for her seven minutes.

"Was he any good?"

He could practically feel her rolling her eyes. "Didn't you ever wonder why Dennis was called EB all through high school?"

"No, not really. I tended not to think about him," _except how much I hated that he was your date that night. God, you looked pretty in the short red satin dress with your hair curled around your shoulders._

"EB stood for English Bulldog. He slobbered all over my mouth and he had a freakishly huge tongue." Veronica shuddered, the movement transferring to Logan so he felt every delicate motion of her muscles. "I felt bad for him and tried to instruct him on how to kiss properly."

"You in all your worldly knowledge?"

"Gleaned from _Cosmo_ and _Seventeen,_ duh!"

"Did you ever want to date me?" He felt vulnerable and unmanned by such a chick question, but she'd brought it up first, so he felt justified in asking.

Veronica shrugged. "You were with Selene, then Yolanda, followed by Caitlyn, and finally Gwennifer in our freshman year alone. I figured we were better off as friends if those girly girls were your type." It didn't really answer his question, but he let it lie because he knew her tactics of avoiding was really an answer in itself. Veronica Jessica Mars had wanted to date him.

"They really weren't my type, so much as just _there."_

Veronica"s small hand slapped his calf. "That's a horrible thing to say."

"What? They were with me because I was Aaron Echolls' son_ not _because I was Logan Echolls."

"Are you sure that's the only reason? It couldn't be due to the fact you're funny, witty, not hard on the eyes, and apparently can give a girl a screaming orgasm?" Her arch tone was mocking, just a little, but the effect was ruined by her giggle.

"You're never going to let me live it down, are you?"

""_Oh my god, you're a god. Do me harder, harder._""

Logan groaned at the reminder of the time Ronnie walked in on him and his girlfriend Pris. "Did you have to tell me she was faking it? I was alright with the pretense."

Her giggles had become full blown laughter. "Dude, how could you _not_ know? She sounded like bad porn. Like, _really_ bad porn."

"What can I say? What did I know how girls were supposed to sound except from _really _bad porn?"

"I just can't believe you lost your virginity to her, that's all."

Logan was suddenly uncomfortable because sex was the one taboo subject they had between them. Ronnie was his best friend, closer than even Dick or Cass, but he couldn't talk to her about banging his girlfriends any more than he wanted to hear about how well her boyfriends were laying the pipe.

That would just be too _weird_.

"Um...Pris wasn't my first."

"Really? Who was?"

"Brittany." He winced in preparation for her explosion because he knew how much his ex had made her life hell, and he had felt traitorous for sleeping with his best friend's arch enemy, but he'd been a stupid stupid fifteen year old led around by his hormones. Of course, once the lust had cleared from his gaze, and he'd realized just how many of Veronica's complaints were truth and not jealousy, he'd jettisoned Brittany from his life so fast her head was still spinning senior year.

Veronica shoved away from Logan to stand up, anger snapping through her as she brushed sand from her legs. Brittany was the last girlfriend who ever came between them, but she was also the one who hurt her the most through the rumors she started and the rift she'd caused between the two best friends.

"You fucking cashed your v-card with the chick who told the football team I was an easy lay? Or who stole my clothes during P.E. and threw them down the toilet? The girl who tried to get me suspended by saying I defaced her locker?"

Her voice rose with each word, small bare feet kicking sand at him until Logan had to stand to avoid the tiny missiles from flying into his eyes.

"Ronnie! Ronnie! Stop. Stop. Fucking stop!" He grabbed her and wrapped brawny arms around her waist. "I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry I didn't believe you, that I accused you of being jealous, and I'm sorrier than I can ever tell you that I ever said our friendship was over!"

Both stilled at his words as the horrible memory rose in their minds:

_Logan sat on the lunch table with Brittany between his legs telling him about her sixteenth birthday party planned in a couple weeks He was bored with the conversation, but kept an interested look on his face because he didn't want to piss her off. She'd hinted that her parents were gone for the weekend and he hoped it meant they'd finally round the bases and slide into home._

_A movement caught his wandering attention and he saw Ronnie stomping across the quad in a baggy soccer uniform, her face tight with anger. _

"_Hey Ronnie, what's up? Why are you wearing Dick's uniform?"_

_She skidded to a stop, completely ignoring Logan's greeting, which made him frown. Things had been different between them in the past few months, ever since he started dating Brittany during the summer before their sophomore year, and he missed hanging out with her every day. _

"_You ho-bag! I can't believe you threw my clothes in the toilet!"_

_Brittany gasped, "No I didn't!"_

"_Liar! Kate Fredrick and Molly Fitzpatrick both saw you doing it."_

_Logan saw the way her body tensed and reached out to catch Ronnie's arm before her hand could connect with his girlfriend's face. "Jesus, Ronnie. You don't need to hit her."_

_Ronnie's blue eyes were nearly gray with the extremity of her emotions and they latched onto him with desperation. ""I came out of the shower and my clothes were gone from my locker. I looked around and they were in the broken toliet Janitor Bob never seems to fix. I had to call Dick so I could borrow his clothes." She used her other hand to point at Brittany. "She was the last person in the locker room before I went into the shower and she was gone when I came out. Plus, there were eye witnesses."_

_Logan' turned to his girlfriend. "Is it true?" _

_Green eyes lifted to his and Brittany pressed her soft breast against his knee. "I would never do that to your best friend, Logan. I know how important she is to you."_

_Ronnie fidgeted in his hold and he reluctantly released her with a warning look. She flicked her tongue at him, but he knew she wouldn't try any more bodily harm._

"_Veronica, you could be mistaken. I know how much you hate to be wrong," he smirked at her fuming face as dozens of examples sprang to mind. "But is it possible you are?"_

"_Logan, can I talk to you alone for a moment?"_

_Sighing, he stood from the table and walked to where Ronnie had gone, completely out of Brittany's earshot. "Is this necessary? I know you don't like my girlfriend, but she's innocent."_

"_I can't believe how blind and clueless you are to her true nature! She's a fucking viper in the grass and tears down anyone who gets in her way."_

"_Jesus, tell me how you really feel."_

"_Logan, that girl hates me and is trying to destroy me at this school. I've never said a bad word about her to you, even though I haven't liked her since the moment she latched on to you, but I'm telling you now. She thinks I'm in the way and is doing everything in her power to make my life hell!"_

_He sighed and scrubbed his fingers through his hair. He knew Ronnie wasn't prone to exaggeration or hyperbole, but he also knew she didn't like it when he spent time with other girls. His best friend was extremely possessive of him and hated sharing him with anyone other than who she deemed worthy of their time. It normally comforted him, knowing someone cared about him so much, but now it was cramping his style because Brittany was shooting them anxious looks._

"_I'm sorry I haven't spent time with you lately ,but c'mon, Ronnie. Making my girlfriend look bad so I'll dump her? You really need to get a handle on your jealousy."_

"_Logan, she isn't who you think she is. She's really not this nice simple-minded hot cheerleader, but a fucking Machiavelli! You've got to believe me when i say she's a heartless back-stabbing whore who's only dating you because she wants to be the most popular girl at school."_

_Anger settled in Logan's gut at Ronnie's words. He often lamented to her about how girls only dated him because of his father, but Brittany was different. He knew she was. Hell, she didn't even ask to meet his dad, or ask for his autograph when they _did_ meet. _

"_She's different, Ronnie. Maybe if you ever hung out with us like I've asked you to time and time again, you would know that instead of getting up on your fucking high horse because she's a cheerleader. I'm sorry we all can't be Mathletes like you or State Champion Goaltenders, but she's still a great girl. I really like her, and if you want to be included then you'll fucking deal with your issues."_

_Shock and betrayal whitened her face, eyes burning with tears. Logan was too angry, however, to notice the signs. "We've been friends for four years and you're choosing her over me. You're calling me a liar?"_

"_Hey, if the shoe fits." Logan didn't really mean it, but he was sick of this conversation and wanted to get back to Brittany to repair the damage before she changed her mind about sleeping with him. Or hopefully sleeping with him in her big empty house this weekend. _

"_You're a fucking fool, Logan Echolls."_

"_You're a jealous bitch, Veronica Mars." He turned, then glanced at Ronnie over his shoulder. "Are you coming with me and apologizing to my girlfriend?"_

"_No."_

"_Well, then I guess we can't hang out until you grow up."_

"_Is this an ultimatum? Apologize or our friendship is over?"_

_Logan felt panic begin to take hold of him at Ronnie's words. That's not what he meant at all. He just meant he wouldn't hang out with her while she hated his girlfriend. It wasn't the same thing._

"_We're still friends, but I don't want to spend time with someone who'd accuse my girlfriend of something so stupid. Why would she throw your clothes in the toilet? It doesn't make sense."_

"_It does make sense, if you were thinking with the right head." Her scornful glance raked his body. "I don't think I can spend time with someone who wants to date a girl like that just so he can get laid."_

"_I guess our friendship is over then." _

Logan reflexively tightened his hold on Ronnie, as if to prevent her from walking away from him in a memory nearly four years old. She squeaked and he relaxed his hold, but put his chin on top of her blonde hair.

"That was a horrible, horrible month for me. I did sleep with her, just the once, but I regretted it more than I can say," he confessed quietly, his heart still pumping with panic. "I thought it was just a stupid fight, you'd call me, or come over with a plate of brownies, and things would go back to normal."

Except they didn't.

Logan had sex with Brittany that weekend while her parents were gone and when he went home, he waited for Ronnie to call with a sheepish apology. He knew they both had tempers and fought, but she always caved first, and smoothed things over. The weekend stretched into a week, then two, and Ronnie still didn't talk to him. Hell, in the classes they had together, she'd moved seats and at lunch she sat with her two new friends Casey and Mac. Whenever Logan tried to approach her, she would turn a blank face to him, the one he knew meant she was physically there but gone somewhere else mentally. It hurt more than he could say to have it turned on him. Dick and Cass had refused to take sides, so Logan couldn't even bitch about it to them.

Instead, he was left with the girlfriend he'd ruined a four year friendship over, and he was quickly disenchanted with her. After their first time together, she lead him on without going all the way again, promising him sex if he would just buy her this, or take her here. When his father had an LA premiere of a film, she wheedled and whined about being his date, despite the fact he hadn't gone to one since he was twelve. Everything came to a head when he overheard her on the phone with one of her stupid friends, gloating over how they'd managed to embarrass Veronica Mars again, and how the trashy little slut surely wouldn't show her face ever again at Neptune High.

"I didn't really choose her over you. I thought it was just another stupid fight."

Veronica heard his murmured words and fought the burn of tears. Brittany Collins had ruined her life for a time in high school; not because of the lies she spread, or even the stupid crap she pulled, but because Veronica had seriously thought she'd lost Logan to her. It had hurt more than anything the bitch could've done because Logan was her person. As much as she loved Mac and Wallace, Dick and Cass, they didn't know her down to the gray places in her soul the way he did.

She knew he always made fun of her love for _Grey's Anatomy, _thinking it was due to her crushes on McDreamy and McSteamy (_they were hot!)_, but she liked watching it because of Drs. Christian Yang and Meredith Grey. In a lot of ways, their friendship reminded her of them:the secret language, the knowing looks, even the way they fought. Of course, they were also two straight girls who didn't fantasize about kissing their best friend the way Veronica was starting to.

It was all Mac's fault, of course, for bringing the possibility to her mind before sending her to find Logan on the beach.

"_You wanted to get rid of Parker?" Mac asked quizzically._

"_No. I just knew it was going to end badly because it always does, even though he really seemed to like this girl." Veronica stared at the bare walls of her soon-to-be-room. "The moment I met her, I foresaw her walking out on him."_

"_What do you think went wrong?"_

_Veronica shrugged, pacing away from Mac's knowing expression. "Logan always dates the same girl: blond, perky, and pretty. They never last long and I'm forced to deal with the romantic whys the breakup invariably brings."_

"_The 'whys?""_

"_Yes, the "why can't I make a relationship last?" or "why am I destined to be alone?" Those whys. In case you haven't noticed, his girls never last beyond a few months."_

_Mac's scoffing laughter was the last thing she expected. "Hey, you shouldn't laugh at Logan's pain. I've often wondered it myself. He's got so much going on for him, especially now, and yet he just can't seem to make it work with chicks. At least on a long -term basis."_

"_Why should he? He has you."_

"_Well, of course he does, but I'm his best friend, not his girlfriend. There's a difference."_

"_No, Dick and Cass are his best friends," she gently corrected Veronica, ignoring the deep frown veeing her friend's brows. _

"_Oh, so what am I?"_

"_The love of his life," was the blunt response._

"_Huh? I know him better than you do, and I think I would know if I was the love of his life." Veronica tried to laugh, but the sound got stuck in her throat and she sounded like a wheezing cat instead._

"_You can't see it because he's the love of _your_ life and you're too fucking scared to do anything about it. But don't worry, he is too. " Mac walked over to pat her gently on the hand. "You two need warning labels stuck to you so anyone attempting to date you knows they're near a ticking time bomb."_

"_Whatevs, Mac. I was in love with Matt!"_

"_No, Matt was a convenience just like Whitney was for Logan. Haven't you ever noticed you two only date when the other is? I mean, last time I checked you weren't dating anyone, then suddenly you're with a bartender?"_

"_Freshman year he dated a few girls and I only had dates for the dances." Veronica felt victorious for pointing out the flaw in Mac's screwy logic. There was no way she and Logan felt that way about each other. Sure, she kinda had a crush on him in middle school, but she outgrew it._

"_Didn't you tell me once, Logan thought you and Cass were dating?"_

"_He was just joking around because other than me, Cass had never been seen with another girl."_

"_Well, he _is_ gayer than a day in May."_

"_At the time we didn't know."_

"_Yet, it proves my point."_

"_I didn't date anyone Junior year. "_

_Mac just looked at her and she quieted. "So you're saying that Logan and I have been in love with each other all this time, and we just didn't know it? Not possible. I know everything there is to know about him."_

"_Who did he lose his virginity to?"_

_Veronica stopped, her mouth open then closed it with a snap. "We don't talk about sex."_

"_So, you're telling me, you have this best friend whom you share everything with except who you're doing the dirty with. Does he know who you lost yours to?"_

"_That''s not weird. I don't talk about sex with Dick or Cass either. Its boy sex and raunchy and dirty. I have you for that! I mean, you're friends with Wallace and you don't share your private details with him either"_

"_If he asked, I would tell him. But then I'm not in love with him."_

_Veronica's frown grew as she tried to find an argument to refute her friend. There was no way she'd been in love with Logan and not known it; or vice versa. "So the best you can come up with is that we date at the same time and we don't talk about sex? Weak, Mackenzie, weak."_

"_You're right, Ronnie. I'm full of shit and can't see what's before my eyes." Mac rolled said eyes, negating her words. "If you can kiss Logan, kiss him like you would a regular boy, and not feel anything, then I will be proven wrong."_

"_So you're betting me to kiss Logan."_

"_If you want to turn it into one, then sure, whatever you need to get your courage up to do what you've always wanted to do."_

"You believe me, right?" Logan's question snapped Veronica from her preoccupation with Mac's words.

"Uh sure I do," she quickly agreed, though she didn't have a clue to what he was talking about.

"I'm glad we aired this out. I guess we never really talked about it after we made up, just kinda ignored the whole Brittany thing, and went on with our lives."

It was true. When Logan found out about the prank the cheerleaders had pulled - making a mock Myspace page for Veronica, complete with her phone number if someone was looking for a good time - he'd immediately broke up with Brittany and called Veronica, harassing her until she finally picked up, and told her what had happened so they could plot a way to get revenge.

Mac proved her leet hacker skillz by pulling the offensive page and cracking into Brittany's own site to post videos supplied by Logan. He might've felt sorry for showing the world her habit of picking her pimples or the major fart fest she had after eating Mexican food, but she'd messed with his best friend and she couldn't escape without punishment.

When she dared confront him at school, he entertained the students in the quad by dissecting her poor skills as a lover and how disgusted he was by her furry fetish. By the time he was done with her, she was no longer popular and feared, but a pitiful wreck people ignored.

"Logan, stop talking and just let me try something."

Confused by the tension in Veronica's voice and body, but willing to play along, he didn't react when she leaned into his chest and stood on tiptoes. He linked his arms against her back to help balance her, and obligingly lowered his head to hers as her hands directed.

"Here goes nothing," she whispered before gently pressing her lips to his.


	4. Attack of the Kissing Cousins

**A/N: I giggled like a maniac as I wrote parts of this chapter. I'm really loving Mac right now. And for all the kind reviewers who are on the edges of their seats wondering how the experiment turned out: hope it was everything you dreamed of ;)**

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><p>"So, how was it?"<p>

Veronica turned disbelieving eyes to Mac. "It was horrible! I've never had such a lackluster kiss in my life. Hell, I'm looking fondly on EB's attempts; it wasn't his fault he had a salivary problem."

Mac's jaw dropped as she tried to assimilate the idea of a kiss between two such passionate people being _meh_.

"Are you sure you did it right?"

Veronica looked at her. "Yes of course I did. I do know how to kiss. Thanks for that by the way." She scrubbed her hand through her hair - in the same way Logan did Mac noticed - and drew a stray blonde tendril to her mouth to chew on. "I just don't get it. I expected fireworks, explosions of lust, not...not...feeling like I was kissing my brother!"

"you don't have a brother."

"I know! But if I did, it would be like kissing him."

"So, uh, how did you end it?"

"He was really startled and when I drew away, he started talking. Like really really fast. So much so I pretended I heard you calling my name and I took off back here to the house, leaving him there. God, Mac, I don't know how I'm going to face him. I mean, he's Logan friggin' Echolls. He's legendary for his sexual prowess, and he kisses like _my brother! " _She stopped, a look of horror on her pretty face. "No, he kissed me back like Cass would a girl. What if he's not into me? What if you were wrong about him having feelings for me. Omigod, he kissed like he was my _brother!"_

Mac heaved a silent sigh as she watched her short blond friend pace back and forth in front of the couch, hands waving and flapping as she kept saying the same thing over and over again. She'd been so sure sending Veronica to Logan with the idea of kissing him would pan out, but apparently one or both dropped the ball so badly, it was going to take a miracle, or some serious MaDi intervention to get it rolling again.

She sure hoped Dick was having a better time of it with Logan.

"Ronnie kissed me like I was her brother!"

Dick took a sip of his beer as he watched his extremely agitated friend pace and forth on the deck, hands scrubbing through his hair in such a way, he feared Logan would be bald by the end of the night. He had to hand the victory to Mac on this one though, despite the disastrous end, because he never thought the two of them would actually kiss tonight.

They had, and predictably, they'd fucked it up. He heaved a silent sigh as he thought about all the times Logan or Veronica almost crossed the invisible friend line, only to chicken out at the last second. This was bad, but not completely fubared despite evidence to the contrary; he figured the kiss sucked more because of mutual nerves and not because they lacked chemistry. Hell, if they had any more chemistry, they'd spontaneously combust when in the same room together.

"We were talking about Brittany -"

"Why the hell were you two talking about that bitch?" he cut in, disbelieving they'd ever talk about _her._

Dick didn't hate people because most people didn't rate any consideration for him, but he loathed Brittany Collins with every beat of his loyal heart. She'd hurt two of his closest friends for the pettiness of reasons: to be popular. He didn't choose between Logan and Veronica during their fight because he thought they were both in the wrong and also right, but he'd worried they might never find their way back to each other. It turned out alright, but it didn't stop him from putting _the bitch_ in his memory vault so he could make sure she got what was coming to her if she ever came around again.

"It was good," Logan said, the dumbfounded look wiped from his face for a moment by a wide smile. "We finally talked, _really talked_, about her and I think we really put the whole sorry mess behind us. Now maybe Ronnie won't drag her out every time we have a fight."

The lounging blonde shook his head at Logan's admission, wondering how the hell his two normally intelligent friends were blind to the fact they fought like a long-time married couple, lovingly berating each other for hurts and slights years in the past.

"But she kissed me, _me_, like I was her geriatric Great-Aunt Susie."

"Dude, I thought you were her brother."

"Not helping, _Dick_." Logan spit his name like an expletive. "How do I face her? I don't even know why she came on to me like that. I mean, sure we were talking about us dating and kissing, but still it came out of nowhere."

A blond brow rose in questioning surprise. _They'd been talking about dating? _"You were talking about dating? Now?"

Logan looked up, brown eyes cloudy with distraction. "What? No. We talked about why we never dated in high school and how we both wished I was her first kiss."

_Damn, Mac was right again. Fuck, we're tied two to two on the bet. Hmn._ "So I guess you guys are obviously not meant to be together."

"I don't...I've...I wouldn't..." Logan sighed and flopped down on one of the other deck chairs, his long legs splayed out before him. "I wasn't prepared. I won't deny I've thought about kissing her before, but not tonight. Not now. Parker just broke up with me and Ronnie's with that Jameson dude."

Dick fiddled with the label on the bottle, picking at the edge until it curled away from the sweaty glass as he pondered his next words. The outcome could go one of two ways: the best case scenario, Logan would be overjoyed by the news and run into the living room and sweep Ronnie up and bear her away to the bedroom where they'd fuck like monkeys and put everyone else out of their existential misery. Neptune scenario (therefore most likely to happen), this blew up in his face, Ronnie went after him with a bat while Logan held him down for her.

_Ah fuck it man, you only live once and at least you'll go down in a blaze of glory._

"Ronnie lied."

"What?" Logan's eyes snapped to his with the force of a shotgun barrel to the forehead. Whomever said a gaze couldn't be felt had never spent time with either of his intense friends; they looked at you and you definitely knew it.

"She's not dating Jonathan. She's actually not dating anyone."

"Who's Jonathan?"

"Jonthan's the Jameson."

"Oh. Wait. How do you know?"

"Well, I overheard her talking about this bartender dude to Mac, and I figured he should be invited so you- ahem- we could check his ass out. So I stole Ronnie's phone and called all the male names I didn't know until I found him."

Logan didn't say anything, but his expression clearly stated, _hurry the hell up you dumb bastard._

"His wife answered the phone and was really surprised to hear her husband was dating our Miss Mars."

An evil smirk grew on Logan's face, a smirk Dick recognized from the bad old days of Neptune High when a diabolical plan was hatching in his mind, plans only Ronnie could prevent. A shiver went down his spine and he wondered if he'd just made things better or worse.

_God I hope Mac is having better luck than I am._

"Veronica, I swear to God if you tell me he kisses like your brother one more time, I will taser you."

The normally unflappable computer whiz had had enough of her friend's wingeing and wasn't above resorting to physical violence to get her point across, especially since this disaster put a crimp in her weekend plans of getting Logan and Veronica hooked up before the semester ended, thereby winning her bet with Dick and scoring a sweet new deck for her troubles.

"You don't own a taser."

"I'm sure I can find a place that sells them. I love you, V, but I'm not afraid to kick your ass to shut you up."

"Man, those self-defense classes with Dante have really amped up your confidence level."

Mac beamed at Veronica's appreciation for her new found attitude. She hadn't always been so assertive and gung-ho, but since meeting her black-belt karate instructor boyfriend, she'd changed in a lot of major and minor ways. Content and in love, she'd decided it was past time her best girlfriend had the same type of joy; even if she had to drag her kicking and screaming into it.

It was really for her own good.

"We're going to play a little game I like to call "Answer With Your Gut." I will ask the question and you answer with the first response in your mind. No hesitations. No changing. And definitely no take backs. Are we clear?"

Veronica seemed to study her friend before obediently sat down on the cushion near her. "Fine."

"Is your name Veronica Mars?"

"_That's_ your first question?"

Mac gave a warning rumble and Veronica meekly answered, "Yes."

"Are you nineteen years old?"

"Yes."

"Do you like your major?"

"Yes."

"Are you currently dating anyone?"

"No." The blonde's hand flew to her mouth as she realized the setup. "Damnit Mac!"

"What's the third rule of Question Club?"

"No take backs," she muttered.

"Is Logan Echolls your best friend?"

"Yes." The answer was a little slower and with a lot more suspicion.

"Do you think Clive Owen is hot?"

"Rawr, rawr, hell to the yes."

Mac snickered at Veronica's use of Wallace's favorite expression.

"Did you cry when you watched _The Notebook_?"

"Yes."

"Ha! I knew it! Something in your eye, my ass."

"I hope your ass wasn't in my eyes. That's gross."

"Do you miss Neptune?"

"No."

"Do you miss the people of Neptune?"

"Certain people, yes."

"Are you excited for Sophomore year at Stanford?"

"No."

Mac raised a brow at her friend's unexpected response. Veronica looked away, her face serene, a sure sign something was wrong. Sighing, Mac promised herself she'd come back to that issue later.

"What's your favorite show on t.v. right now?"

"House."

"Are you in forever love with your best friend?"

"yes."

"My work here is done."

Veronica glared at Mac, blue eyes snapping with irritation. "I've never denied I love Logan like...like...a...-" she stopped before she said the dreaded word because they both knew she'd be lying, "...I love, not in love, Logan forever."

"Ronnie, that didn't even make any sense. Besides, no take backs, remember?"

The tiny blond huffed with annoyance as she thrust herself up from the couch, completely ignoring the gloating grin on Mac's face.

"This is a stupid game with stupid rules!" Veronica yelled as she stomped away to the bathroom down the hall. The door shut with a sharp click.

_Good lord that girl is stubborn. I sure as hell hope Dick is on his A game tonight._

"Uh dude, you're kinda scarin' me. Dude? Dude?"

Dick leaned forward and rapped a knuckle along Logan's brow bone, hoping to bring his friend back from whatever Evil Supervillian mental conference he'd journeyed to in the last ten minutes. He'd heard Ronnie yelling something about a game to Mac, and he really wanted to join the girls again. His part of the Echolls-Mars connection was done.

The sliding of the glass door caught his attention and he gratefully smiled at Mac as she walked onto the deck.

"What's up Macaroonie?"

"Dante, Cass, and Ryan just got here. You boys gonna join us?"

Logan's head turned, but the creepy evil smirk was gone; resolution and determination glowed in his fierce brown eyes. "Yup. In fact, I think we should play a game."

Dick couldn't fully hear Mac's muttered response, but it sounded like - "Hope it ends better than _my_ game."

"What game is that, dude?"

"I wanna play I Never."


End file.
